2018 saw a decline in car sales of nearly seven per cent
with consumer confidence declining due to the continuing uncertainty over
Britain’s exit from the European Union on the one hand and on the other
motorists increasingly unwilling to buy diesel powered cars.

The sales figures at 2.37 million were the lowest for five
years and lower than for 2017, when the financial crisis hit the UK as well as
other countries.

Sales of diesel cars have fallen sharply due to air quality
concerns and worries about taxation charges, despite the insistence by
Britain’s car industry that the very latest vehicles have significantly reduced
nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions.

After twenty-one consecutive months of decline in sales, 38
per cent less diesel cars are being sold than when sales were at their
peak. Diesel cars currently make up less
than thirty-two per cent of the sales on the market.

The industry warned that Britain’s exit from the EU at the
end of March risks the future of a sector which currently employs more than
850,000 people and has been one of the UK’s few success stories since the
nineteen eighties.

As a result of the falling sales, job losses are a looming
threat to the car workers and a source of grave concern for Britain’s trade
unions.

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron proposed a National
Debate over his economic reforms to attempt to restore calm after close to two
months of violent protests nationwide.
Government ministers used public broadcasts to promote his plans for
three months of discussions in town halls and online which would cover topics
ranging from taxes, citizenship and democracy to the organisation of public
services.

The Finance minister Bruno le Maire was said to believe that
the big debate will be the best way to reunite the people of France and bring
their return to the “negotiating table”.

President Macron’s five-year term began with a series of
unpopular economic overhauls, including the abolition of the Wealth Tax. His next reforms include overhauls of France’s
pension and unemployment services as well as changes in state bureaucracy and
public services.

His reforms have been met with protests and
demonstrations. The “Yellow Vest”
protests have tested his resolve to continue with his pace of reform and have
already forced him into a ‘U-turn’ on tax policies. Macron is said to be determined to continue
with his major reforms and not undo what he has done so far.

The abolition of the Wealth Tax has so far proved the most
unpopular measure and is opposed by a large section of the population.

The Democratic campaign to win the U.S. elections in 2020 launched in earnest on New Years Eve when Senator Elizabeth Warren declared her bid for Presidency

The
Massachusetts Senator’s announcement was long expected and marked an official
start to a Presidential Nomination Contest expected to feature one of the most
diverse and largest fields of candidates in the history of both Democrats and
Republicans.

Warrens
e-mail announcement video defines her as an “economic populist” who is ready to
challenge President Trump. Her slogan
‘Join the Fight’ encapsulates her attitude.

Elizabeth
Warren is known to be a sharp critic of big banks and unregulated capitalism
and a warrior against powerful corporate interests.

The
Democrats are currently hampered by having no broadly unifying ideology, as the
party moves away from a quarter century of dominance by the Clintons and
Obama.

The
obstacles Senator Warren faces are mainly the powerful big corporate interests
in both main parties; her ideas overlap with that of Bernie Sanders the Vermont
Democrat Senator.

Dubbed
cynically as “Pocahantas” by the current President Trump, she also faces
problems of confirming her Native American heritage.

Nevertheless,
the United States needs a unifying force in the Presidency; something that is
gravely lacking with the current President.

New EPA
Plan Could Free Coal Plants to Release More Mercury into the Air

Tags: Coal,
Mercury, Environment, Power Plants, Health

The Trump Administration proposed major changes to the way
the US Government calculates the benefits, in human health and safety, of
restricting mercury emissions from coal burning power plants.

In the new proposal the United States Environment Protection
Agency (EPA) issued a finding that the rules imposed by the previous administration
were too costly to justify.

The EPA set a new precedent in changing the formula used in
its required cost-benefit analysis of the regulation by considering only
certain effects that can be measured in dollars. It now ignored or played down other health
benefits.

The proposal technically leaves the mercury restrictions in
place. However, by revising the
underlying justifications for them, the Trump administration opened the door
for coal mining companies to challenge the restrictions in Court.

The 2011 restrictions were the first to restrict some of the
most hazardous pollutants emitted by coal plants. The rules were long opposed by the coal
plants. However, the restrictions were
one of Obama’s s unique and outstanding environmental achievements.

On
29th November 2018, the UK Immigration Minister defended the
Government’s handling of the rise in migrants crossing the English Channel
since November 2018. During her visit to
Dover, Caroline Nokes said the Home Secretary would cut short a family holiday
to deal with the major incident.

The
MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke called for more patrol boats to tackle the
problem, adding that the Home Office was not taking the matter seriously.

But
Caroline Nokes, the Immigration Minister said the UK was working with the
French authorities to try to prevent migrants from setting out; she pointed to
an “enormous” ongoing intelligence led operation to deter people traffickers.

Britain’s
National Crime Agency told the BBC that tackling the criminals behind these
“extremely dangerous” attempted crossings was an “operational priority” and
that significant resources were devoted to it.

On
New Year’s Eve the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid and his counterpart in France
pledged to step up joint efforts to tackle cross-channel people smuggling; the
British Labour Party on the other hand accused the Conservative Government of
whipping up concern about the issue.

The
Home Office confirmed that six Iranian men were found with a small boat on a
beach near Deal in Kent on the morning before New Year’s Eve. This brought the number of migrants who made
the perilous crossing since 25/12/2018 to 100.

The
Government declared the migrant crossings a major incident on Friday, and the
Home Secretary flew back from holiday to take direct action. Javid said the reasons for the channel
crossings were complex and included instability in the Middle East as well as
organised crime.

At
the core of the problem are the human traffickers who are opportunist and
callous. There is reason to suspect that
they may be exploiting the instability regions like the Middle East to lure
migrants to cross the English Channel to arrive in the UK.

More
than 3,000 people living in or near the 36 storey Opal Tower complex at
Sydney’s Olympic Park were evacuated on Christmas Eve after residents reported
hearing ‘cracking’ noises.

The
police in New South Wales, Australia said in a statement that the alarm was
raised by reports of ‘cracking noises’ throughout the morning.

The
residents had been taken to an evacuation centre. It was not clear when they could return to
their homes. Firefighters and engineers were expected to examine the cause of
the reported cracks on the 10th floor of the Opal Tower, and to see
whether the building is in danger of collapse.

Former
Nissan Motor Representative Director Greg Kelly was granted bail on Tuesday by
a Tokyo court, and could be freed before the end of Christmas. But Carlos Ghosn, Nissan’s ousted Chairman
remains in custody.

Kelly
and Ghosn were detained since their first arrest in November of 2018, on
suspicion of understating Ghosn’s income for several years in Nissan’s
financial statements.

The
arrests jolted the global car industry.
There is also a strain on Nissan’s alliance with Renault.

A
Nissan spokesman said the investigation into misconduct is “ongoing”. The company had dismissed both men due to the
investigation.

Oil
prices in London dipped below $50 a barrel for the first time since July 2017
before recovering as the market turmoil and worries over the supply from the
U.S. countered signs that OPEC and its allies may extend or deepen cuts in
output.

Oil
plunged more than 40 per cent from a four year high in October over the
prospect of a supply glut.

While
OPEC and its allies agreed to cut output earlier this month, investors are
sceptical as to whether the reductions will be enough to dent growing supplies
from the United States, especially from U.S. shale.

Dow
soars more than 1050 points its biggest point gain in history, recovering from
days of losses.

Stocks
on Wednesday climbed back from their severe Christmas Eve plunge as all three
indexes posted big gains

The
Dow Jones Industrial Average soared up to 1,086 points (or 4.98 per cent)-its biggest
points gain in history-as stocks broke a four-day losing streak that placed the
ten-year bull market on the edge of death on Monday.

It
was the largest daily gain for markets since 2009. Both the S&P and NASDAQ had their best
day in three years. But despite the big
gains, all three indexes remained in the loss column by Boxing Day, Thursday.

Investors
have been shaken by recent economic and political developments such as the abrupt
resignation of Jim Mattis from his post of U.S. Defence Secretary.

Music
retailer HMV said it was calling in the administrator and blamed a worsening
market for CD’s and DVD’s. The well-known
company became the latest victim of brutal trading conditions in Britain’s
retail sector.

KPMG,
the accounting firm was named by HMV as its administrator and intends to keep
the business running while seeking a potential buyer, according to a statement
released by HMV on Friday.

The
music retailer HMV went into administration previously in 2013, before its
rescue by the restructuring specialist Hilco.
Since then it has been hit by competition from online rivals and music streaming
services

HMV
was first opened in 1921 on London’s Oxford Street by the English composer
Edward Elgar. It made itself famous with
the ‘dog and trumpet’ image.

Next
year’s Presidential election scheduled for April 2019, was postponed for three
months. Election authorities told the
BBC that a new date for mid-July or early August is to be announced.

Many
potential candidates had been unable to meet the requirements for registration,
for reasons involving the severe weather conditions which stopped their teams
organising for a Spring date for the election.

The
announcement to postpone the Presidential election came days after reports that
the United States was to withdraw thousands of troops from the region.

Violence
affected both the campaigning and the polling stations for the Parliamentary
elections in October with ten candidates killed. There were deadly blasts at polling stations
and nearly a third were closed because of security concerns.

Although
the United States troops cannot be expected to remain indefinitely, the
Afghanistan Army needs more military and logistics support for its campaign
against the Taliban and ‘Islamic State’, from both the United States and the
NATO allies. The withdrawal of troops
perhaps should be compensated for by continued military supplies and enhanced
logistical support for the Afghanistan Armed forces.

The
country has succeeded with great difficulty in removing the Taliban from power
and limiting its influence. It would be
tragic for Afghanistan if military support for the country’s army were suddenly
reduced.